The Yankees sweeping a 3-game home series from the Oakland Athletics shouldn't be considered a big deal. But it needed to happen, after the Yankees came within 4 runs of sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg last weekend, but, instead, lost 2 out of 3. So, with the Rays coming to The Bronx to start a 4-game series tomorrow night, the Yankees need all the momentum they can get.
Rookie Jhony Brito started, and got into the 5th inning, having allowed 2 runs. Jimmy Cordero got the Yankees through the 6th, without allowing any further runs. Since Brito did not finish the 5th inning, he could not be the winning pitcher.
But Brito did leave the game with a lead. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st, thanks in part to a 3-run home run from Harrison Bader. They gut 7 runs in the 5th inning, including got a 2-run homer from DJ LeMahieu and a grand slam from Anthony Volpe.
Yankees 11, Athletics 3. WP: Cordero (2-1). SV: Deivi Garcia (1). LP: Kyle Muller (1-3).
So now, the Rays come in, and the Yankees need to take a stand, to show that the Rays will not win the American League Eastern Division easily, and that the Yankees will not go away quietly. Here are the first-pitch times and the projected pitching matchups, with all 4 games to be broadcast on the YES Network:
* Thursday, 7:05 PM: Domingo Germán vs. Drew Rasmussen.
* Friday, 7:05 PM: Gerrit Cole vs. Josh Fleming.
* Saturday, 1:05 PM: Nestor Cortés vs. Shane McClanahan.
* Sunday, 1:35 PM: Clarke Schmidt vs. Zach Eflin.
These 4 games could turn out to be the ones that determine whether the Yankees make a race of it in the AL East, or have to fight for a Wild Card Playoff berth.
No comments:
Post a Comment